Thursday, January 08, 2009

I was watching tonight's national college football championship between Oklahoma and Florida and I couldn't help but be amused and confused by what I saw and heard from Florida's outstanding junior quarterback, Tim Tebow.

Let me preface this by saying from every indication that I have ever seen, Tim Tebow is pretty much the model student-athlete and even more a model citizen -- National Champion, Heisman Award winner, son of missionaries, homeschooled, assists father's missionary work at orphanages in the Phillipines, and by every indication, a nice kid.

What gets me is his need to let us know about his faith at every opportunity. Whenever he speaks he will say "God Bless" or something similar. His eye black said "John 3:16" tonight and has said "Phil 4:13" in the past.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." -- John 3:16

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." -- Philippians 4:13

What is with the moral imperative of the Christian to tesify? You don't see atheist athletes thanking Nietzsche or writing "God is dead" on their eye black ... though that would be funny.

I find it ludicrous that even if God existed that he would care about a football game or would favor one side over another. But that doesn't stop pretty much every athlete from thanking God for their exploits.

When I was researching this post, I was dismayed to find that it was not just athletes that feel the need to testify, chapter and verse, as it were. In-N-Out Burger prints several passages on the bottoms of their cups:

In-N-Out prints discreet references to Bible verses on their paper utensils. The print is small and out of the way, and only contains the book, chapter and verse numbers, not the actual text of the passages. The practice began in the 1980s during Rich Snyder's presidency, a reflection of the beliefs held by the Snyder family:

Burger and cheeseburger wrappers -- Revelation 3:20—"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me."

Beverage cups and replicas -- John 3:16—"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Milkshake cups -- Proverbs 3:5—"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Double-Double wrapper -- Nahum 1:7—"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."

Paper water cups -- John 14:6—"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Of course, my disparaging of open acknowledgement of faith by Christians won't really bother Christians. Perhaps it shouldn't. After all, if they are going to buy into some of the Bible, they might as well buy into the whole damn thing. And Tebow must have at least believed God was in his corner tonight, as Florida won. "Chacun son goût" -- To each his own.

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." -— George Bernard Shaw

13 comments:

The basis of Christianity, unlike other religions, is to take the good word to the street and give testimony to people so they may save their souls. Pretty much every other religion says if you find your own way to it, that's the best way.

But if someone is a good person, shouldn't they be a good person whether Christianity was there or not? And if they are saying that they wouldn't do these good things if not for God, what does that say about them or the nature of people in general?

I hate it when I hear that God is a justification for people's morality. And in turn, when that is used as a justification for a belief in God. Someone should not just do good because they are worried about being punished by God. And secondly, even if they do only do good because of a fear of God, that still is not a proof of the existence of God. It just proves that they need God or something like God.

And the whole concept of missionary work is kinda dicey too. I'm sure a lot of cultures that are given assistance believe that it is a condition of their receiving assistance that they must accept God.

You know I was thinking about this today while I was taking a shower and brushing my teeth at the same time (cause I do that, major time saver) and I came to the conclusion that acts like these have NOTHING to do with witnessing. They are acts of clubism. That is the part of our nature that inherently wants to be part of something. That's why the cup makes no sense, because *OBVIOUSLY* nobody is going to look at that and have their life changed. But it's a way for the person that put it there (or more likely the person who designed it there(or more likely the person that TOLD the person to design it there to design it there)) to show that he is IN the club. That he's a member. That he belongs. It's like a gang sign. Same thing with Tebow, he's just showing a part of himself he thinks defines him. So that he can show he's part of the same club with other people who are partly defined by this same belief.

And then I got done brushing my teeth and went on to washing my hair and started thinking about something else.

Scott - I think you are absolutely right. I was thinking something similar today, that it was almost like allegiance to a sports team - You know ... Go Raiders! or Cubs Rule! (both of which are not true, BTW). People want it to be known what side or "team" they support.

"I find it ludicrous that even if God existed that he would care about a football game or would favor one side over another. But that doesn't stop pretty much every athlete from thanking God for their exploits."

That's really untrue from my perspective.God tells us in his word that he's involved in everything. He does care about a Football game. It might seem ridiculous to you but perhaps a football game is where someone's life changes forever. What if a player gets an injury that will change their quality of life?Maybe a coach has a lot of money riding on the win or the loss. There are many facets to even what appears to be meaningless or mundane.Also, Christians believe that God blessed us with our gifts and talents.It's not unusual for a Christian to give God the glory for his success in life. It sure is refreshing to see a football player that doesn't have a big fat ego trip and boasts about himself all day long.Would you rather here this man boast about himself in the interviews? To be cocky and self centered?Look at the success of "In-N-Out". I think it's awesome that they give credit to the Lord for their thriving business.I'm surprised, Scott, at your responses.~Sadie

Sadie - I truly have missed your perspective. I hope you grace all of our blogs more frequently.

You'd have to agree that God would not favor one team over another, though? God would surely not care if a specific team won or if some person scored a touchdown. But you will almost always see someone look to the heavens when they hit a home run or score a touchdown.

It'd truly be a cruel God that would focus himself on the trivialities of a game, while allowing people to die in a war.

I don't believe that players should focus on themselves. They should thank their teammates, their coaches, their parents. By thanking God before these groups, however, it seems to bring the focus more on themselves. They are saying that God has anointed them specifically.

However, I don't think that is always the case. Kurt Warner, by far, talks more about God in interviews than any athlete I've ever known. And he is one of the least self-centered celebrities that I know of. I've always been a big fan of my Iowa home-boy and can't really say anything negative about him. He's led my Cardinals to the NFC Championship game (which I am going to!!) after all.